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63-678: The Water Pollution Research Board (WPRB) was established in 1927 by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). The management board comprised up to eight members drawn from industry, commerce, academia and learned societies. In addition there were up to 12 ‘assessors’ from government departments such as: the Ministry of Agriculture, fisheries and food; the Development Commission; Ministry of Housing and Local Government; Ministry of Public Building and Works;

126-473: A white paper urging that a permanent organisation for the promotion of scientific and industrial research should be set up. By order in council of 28 July 1915 authority for such an organisation was vested in a committee of the Privy Council consisting at first of six ministers and three other privy councillors in their personal capacities. This new Committee for Scientific and Industrial Research

189-770: A 607 page paper Effects of Polluting Discharges on the Thames Estuary in 1964. In 1955 the WPRL moved to a purpose-built laboratory in Elder Way, Stevenage , and here it is associated with the first systematic analyses of sewage treatment. Following the 1974 reorganisation of the UK water supply industry both WPRL and the Water Resources Board (WRB) were transferred from the Civil Service and merged with

252-662: A Standing Court of Arbitration to deal with future industrial disputes, establishing a reputation as a conciliator. In Cabinet, he worked with Lloyd George to champion social reform . He promoted what he called a "network of State intervention and regulation" akin to that in Germany. Churchill's main achievements came in 1909. First was the Labour Exchanges Bill . It set up over 200 labour exchanges with William Beveridge in charge. The unemployed would come in and be assisted in finding employment. He also promoted

315-613: A number of small governmental bodies with a specialised scientific interest, but little organised effort towards the application of discoveries made in fundamental research and no organisation concerned with the application of science to industry. The impetus to the establishment of the department was provided by the needs of the war effort. The initiative was taken by the President of the Board of Education who, in May 1915, presented to Parliament

378-666: A series of reforms that were quickly endorsed by the Liberal Parliament. One of the first actions was the Census of Production Act 1906 , which generated a Survey of production —an up-to-date compendium of detailed statistics necessary for regulating specific industries. In 1906, the Merchant Shipping Act upgraded the minimum working conditions, and the safety protections for both British sailors, and crews of foreign ships that used British ports. In 1907,

441-579: Is commonly known as the Board of Trade, and formerly known as the Lords of Trade and Plantations or Lords of Trade , and it has been a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom . The board has gone through several evolutions, beginning with extensive involvement in colonial matters in the 17th century, to powerful regulatory functions in the Victorian Era and early 20th century. It

504-727: The Civil List and Secret Service Money Act 1782 ( 22 Geo. 3 . c. 82). Following the Treaty of Paris 1783 , with the continuing need to regulate trade between its remaining colonies, the independent United States and all other countries, a new Committee of Council on Trade and Plantations (later known as 'the First Committee') was established by William Pitt the Younger . Initially mandated by an Order in Council on 5 March 1784,

567-473: The Colonial Office and other functions were devolved to newly created departments, a process that continued for much of the 20th century. The original commission comprised the seven (later eight) Great Officers of State , who were not required to attend meetings, and the eight paid members, who were required to attend. The board, so constituted, had little real power, and matters related to trade and

630-613: The Industrial Revolution expanded, the board's work became increasingly executive and domestic. From the 1840s, a succession of acts of parliament gave it regulatory duties, notably concerning railways, merchant shipping and joint-stock companies. This department was merged with the Ministry of Technology in 1970, to form the Department of Trade and Industry . The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (from 2009 Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills )

693-603: The Long Parliament would establish a parliamentary Commission for Plantations to take the lead in colonial and commercial affairs. This period also saw the first regulation of royal tonnage and poundage and begin the modernization of customs and excise as growing sources of government revenue. During the Interregnum and Commonwealth three acts of the Rump Parliament in 1650 and 1651 are notable in

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756-618: The Mines Eight Hours Bill , which legally prohibited miners from working more than an eight-hour day . Sydney Buxton served as president between 1910 and 1914. His main role was passage of numerous specific trade and commerce laws. From 1973, international trade policy of the United Kingdom was a competence of the European Economic Community , and later of the European Union . The board

819-402: The Ministry of Technology . Its remit was to promote, assist and support research into domestic, commercial, industrial and agricultural use of water obtained from all sources. Furthermore, it was to promote research into the water works trade and other industries by establishing laboratories and workshops and conduct experiments and to fund such work to improve the education of persons engaged in

882-947: The National Physical Laboratory from the Royal Society in 1918, the Geological Survey and Geological Museum from the Board of Education in 1919, the Road Experimental Station from the Ministry of Transport in 1933, the Laboratory of the Government Chemist (previously the Government Chemist's Department) in 1959, and the Tropical Products Institute from the Colonial Office in the same year. Some research organisations founded by

945-608: The Patents and Design Act gave financial protection to British designs to stop unfair foreign copies. In the long term, his most important innovation was creating the Port of London Authority in 1908. It merged numerous inefficient and overlapping private companies and gave unified supervision to Britain's most important port. That enabled London to compete more effectively with Hamburg and Rotterdam. Lloyd George also turned his attention to strikes and industrial disputes in shipyards. He

1008-415: The Privy Council of England to establish a temporary committee to investigate the causes of various economic and supply problems, the decline in trade and consequent financial difficulties; detailed instructions and questions were given, with answers to be given "as fast as the several points shall be duly considered by you." This would be followed by a number of temporary committees and councils to regulate

1071-533: The Rockingham Whigs . William Pitt the Younger re-established the committee in 1784, and an Order in Council of 23 August 1786 provided the formal basis that still remains in force. A secretariat was established which included the president, vice president and board members. By 1793, the board still remained in its old structure, with 20 members including the Archbishop of Canterbury . After 1820

1134-733: The Torry Research Station and the Water Pollution Research Laboratory. The British Museum Laboratory, established by the department in 1919, was transferred to the museum in 1930. Three food research establishments, the Pest Infestation Laboratory , Low Temperature Research Station and Ditton Laboratory , passed to the Agricultural Research Council in 1959. From 1941 to 1945 the department

1197-541: The Water Act 1973 . This dissolved the 29 River Authorities and created ten Water Authorities with much broader terms of reference. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (United Kingdom) The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research was a department of the British Government responsible for the organisation, development, and encouragement of scientific and industrial research. At

1260-552: The Water Research Association (WRA) to form a quango , controlled by the publicly-owned regional water authorities . The WRA had been founded in 1953 and provided research and advice on drinking water treatment to the municipal bodies responsible for drinking water supply; it was based at Medmenham , Buckinghamshire. The new organisation was renamed the Water Research Centre (WRC). In 1989

1323-572: The 1902 Act to continue in effect. Nonconformists were bitterly upset by the failure of the Liberal Party to reform the 1902 Education Act, its most important promise to them, and over time their support for the Liberal Party slowly fell away. According to Martin Roberts, Lloyd George headed a department of 750 experts that was responsible for supervising British industry, commerce and transportation. Using their pool of expertise, he initiated

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1386-461: The 1950s. The department was responsible for the organisation, development and encouragement of scientific and industrial research and the dissemination of its results. It worked by encouraging and supporting scientific research in universities, technical colleges and other institutions, establishing and developing its own research organisations for investigation and research relative to the advancement of trade and industry, and taking steps to further

1449-604: The Board of Trade, in partnership with the various secretaries of state over that time, held responsibility for colonial affairs, particularly in British America . The newly created office of Home Secretary then held colonial responsibility until 1801, when the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies was established. Between 1768 and 1782 while with the Secretary of State for the Colonies , whose secretaryship

1512-619: The Board of Trade; the Ministry of Transport. The Board had no laboratories and fulfilled its remit of providing research and advice on sewage treatment by outsourcing and conducting surveys. Laboratory facilities finally became available in 1940 when DSIR set up the Water Pollution Research Laboratory (WPRL) in Watford . During the Second World War WPRL also worked in other areas, notably

1575-735: The Church of England in the colonies, particularly with the great influx of Puritans to the New World. Soon after, the English Civil Wars erupted and initiated a long period of political instability in England and the resultant loss of productivity for these committees. The war would spread to varying degrees to the English colonies , depending on the internal demographics and political and religious division of each. Between 1643 and 1648

1638-621: The DSIR prior to its disbandment in 1965: Industrial Research And Development In The United Kingdom A Survey. Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade . Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations , but

1701-590: The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Act 1956, which abolished the advisory council and the Imperial Trust and vested executive power in a new Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. The council, set up on 7 November 1956, was appointed by and responsible to the Lord President of the Council and was required to comply with any directions it might receive from a committee of

1764-688: The Plymouth colony, and taking advantage of the concessions of the charters of Massachusetts and New York, created the Dominion of New England in 1685, thereby transforming all the territory from the Kennebec to the Delaware into a single crown colony. In 1696, King William III appointed eight paid commissioners to promote trade in the American plantations and elsewhere. Staff appointed to serve

1827-514: The President of the Board of Education was nominated as vice-president of the committee of the Privy Council, and the committee's staff and accommodation were at first provided by the board. With the increasing importance of the industrial side of research, these initial arrangements soon became inadequate. Consequently, in December 1916 a separate Department of Scientific and Industrial Research

1890-473: The Privy Council for scientific and industrial research. In 1959 these functions of the lord president were transferred to the newly created Minister for Science. The department was abolished by the Science and Technology Act 1965 , which dispersed its functions over a number of government departments and other bodies. Those primarily concerned were the new Ministry of Technology , which became responsible for

1953-629: The Water Research Centre was privatised and renamed WRc plc, as part of the privatisation of the UK water industry . As part of the process a small offshoot, the Foundation for Water Research (FWR), was created and the Stevenage site was shut down. In 2004 the Medmenham site was also closed, leaving Swindon as WRc's main site. The WRc Group employs around 150 staff. Until 2020, its shares were mainly owned by its staff and UK water companies; it

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2016-429: The application of scientific knowledge to industry and for the majority of the department's research establishments; the Department of Education and Science, which took over responsibility for overseas scientific liaison and the general advancement of scientific knowledge; and the new Science Research Council , which was now to deal with grants for university research and awards for postgraduate students. Administered by

2079-496: The board ceased to meet regularly and the business was carried out entirely by the secretariat. The short name of "Board of Trade" was formalised in 1861. In the 19th century the board had an advisory function on economic activity in the UK and its empire . During the second half of the 19th century it also dealt with legislation for patents, designs and trademarks, company regulation, labour and factories, merchant shipping, agriculture, transport, power etc. Colonial matters passed to

2142-591: The board in 1696 included a secretary, a deputy secretary, some clerks, office keepers, messengers, and a necessary woman; more staff such as a solicitor and a porter were added later. The Lords Commissioners of Trade and Foreign Plantations , commonly known as the Lords of Trade, did not constitute a committee of the Privy Council, but were, in fact, members of a separate body. The board carried on this work but also had long periods of inactivity, devolving into chaos after 1761 and dissolved in 1782 by an act of Parliament by

2205-462: The colonies and their commerce. The board's formal title remains "The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations". In 1634, Charles I appointed a new commission for regulating plantations. It was headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury with its primary goals to increase royal authority and the influence of

2268-405: The colonies were usually within the jurisdiction of the secretaries of state and the Privy Council, with the board confining itself mainly to colonial administration. In 1905, David Lloyd George entered the new Liberal Cabinet of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman as President of the Board of Trade . The first priority on taking office was the repeal of the 1902 Education Act. Lloyd George took

2331-459: The committee was reconstructed and strengthened by a second order, on 23 August 1786, under which it operated for the rest of its existence. The committee has been known as the Board of Trade since 1786, but this name was only officially adopted by an act of 1861. The new board's first functions were consultative like earlier iterations, and its concern with plantations, in matters such as the approval of colonial laws, more successfully accomplished. As

2394-620: The creation of a device for airmen to make sea water acceptable as drinking water. An example of the WPRB's work was a major study of the tidal Thames. In 1948 the WPRB appointed the Thames Survey Committee to study the condition of the Thames Estuary. Of particular interest was the capacity of the river to purify the sewage and industrial effluents discharged into it. The committee first met in January 1949 and finally reported in

2457-1059: The department had functions defined in terms of a field of science or technology such as the Chemical Research Laboratory, the National Engineering Laboratory and the Hydraulics Research Station . Others were defined in terms of a practical objective, such as the Building Research Station, the Fire Research Station, the Forest Products Research Laboratory, the Fuel Research Station, the Radio Research Station ,

2520-420: The development of research associations in private industry and research facilities in university science departments. [It] rapidly assumed a key role in coordinating government aid to university research. It maintained these roles until 1965. The annual budget during its first year, 1915, was £1,000,000. Before the twentieth century, the government was little concerned with scientific enquiry. By 1914 there were

2583-410: The development of water resources in England and Wales. The WRB had a staff of 160, principally engineers. A supervisory board met monthly. The WRB devised schemes such as one for a water grid in north east England which might also supply Sheffield and Chesterfield 200 miles to the south. The WRB did not have a remit on water quality and this was a fatal handicap. The Board was disbanded under the terms of

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2646-479: The early 17th century, when these settlements were initially forming. The board would evolve gradually into a government department with considerable power and a diverse range of functions, including regulation of domestic and foreign commerce, the development, implementation and interpretation of the Acts of Trade and Navigation , and the review and acceptance of legislation passed in the colonies. Between 1696 and 1782

2709-444: The historical development of England's commercial and colonial programs. These include the first Commission of Trade to be established by an Act of Parliament on 1 August 1650. The instructions to the named commissioners, headed by Henry Vane the Younger , included consideration of both domestic and foreign trade, the trading companies, manufactures, free ports, customs, excise, statistics, coinage and exchange, and fisheries, as well as

2772-466: The idea of an unemployment insurance scheme, which would be part-funded by the state. Secondly he introduced the Trade Boards Bill , creating trade boards which investigated the sweated trades and enabled the prosecution of exploitative employers. Passing with a large majority, it established the principle of a minimum wage and the right of workers to have meal breaks. Churchill introduced

2835-533: The industry. Its research station, opened in 1961, was by the River Thames at Medmenham, Marlow, Buckinghamshire. It became part of the Water Research Centre in 1974. The WRA's Director (1955-1974) was Dr R. G. Allen. The Water Resources Board was established on 1 July 1964 under the provisions of the Water Resources Act 1963 . Its duty was to advise river authorities and central government on

2898-407: The instructions indicate the beginnings of a policy which had the prosperity and wealth of England exclusively at heart. It was the Lords of Trade who, in 1675, originated the idea of transforming all of the colonies in America into Royal Colonies for the purpose of securing English trade against the French. They brought New Hampshire under the Crown, modified Penn's charter, refused a charter to

2961-416: The lead along with Augustine Birrell , President of the Board of Education. Lloyd George was the dominant figure on the committee drawing up the bill in its later stages and insisted that the bill create a separate education committee for Wales. The bill passed the House of Commons greatly amended but was completely mangled by the House of Lords. No compromise was possible and the bill was abandoned, allowing

3024-440: The outbreak of the First World War "Britain found ... it was dangerously dependent on enemy industries". At the request of the Board of Trade , the Board of Education prepared a White Paper under the chairmanship of Sir William McCormick . The DSIR was set up to fill the roles that the White Paper specified: "to finance worthy research proposals, to award research fellowships and studentships [in universities], and to encourage

3087-446: The plantations and the best means of promoting their welfare and rendering them useful to England. The act's statesmanlike and comprehensive instructions, along with an October act prohibiting trade with pro-royalist colonies and the Navigation Act of October 1651, formed the first definitive expression of England's commercial policy. They represent the first attempt to establish a legitimate control of commercial and colonial affairs, and

3150-511: The practical application of the results of research. It could make grants for the purposes of any of these functions. The department was not responsible for research undertaken primarily to meet the requirements of national defence, nor did it cover all government activity in research for civil purposes. Large areas of research were the responsibility of other bodies – aviation, atomic energy, agriculture, health and medicine, meteorology – though it might undertake specific investigations on behalf of

3213-441: The progress of the approved programme. A Scottish branch office of the department was opened in Edinburgh in September 1947, a Welsh office at Cardiff in 1953, and a Northern branch office at Newcastle upon Tyne in 1963. Late in 1954, the Lord President appointed a small committee under the chairmanship of Sir Henry Jephcott to enquire into the organisation and functioning of the department. Its recommendations were given effect in

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3276-468: The responsible departments. The department encouraged and supported scientific research in universities and other institutions by means of grants for special research projects, research fellowships, studentships, grants to research associations and research contracts. The department absorbed or created a number of research organisations, which included large laboratories for special fields of work. Existing institutions for which it assumed responsibility were

3339-418: The terminally ill prime minister on 8 April 1908 and, four days later, Winston Churchill was appointed President of the Board of Trade, succeeding Lloyd George who became Chancellor of the Exchequer . He continued the reform impulse Lloyd George had launched. One of Churchill's first tasks was to arbitrate in an industrial dispute among ship-workers and employers on the River Tyne . He afterwards established

3402-497: Was a director of research responsible to the head of the department. The director was provided with one or more research institutes or laboratories and with an advisory research board. The research boards were appointed by the lord president of the Council until 1956 and thereafter by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research . The boards were responsible for advising the council on the programme of work to be undertaken, and to watch, comment and advise, and to report annually, on

3465-415: Was also President of the Board of Trade. The full board has met only once since the mid-20th century, during commemorations of the bicentenary of the board in 1986. In 2016, the role of President of the Board of Trade was transferred to the Secretary of State for International Trade . The board was reconstituted in October 2017. In 1622, at the end of the Dutch Twelve Years' Truce , King James I directed

3528-430: Was created, having its own parliamentary vote but responsible to Parliament through the Lord President of the Council . Once the full four-tier organisation of the committee of the council, the Advisory Council, the Imperial Trust and the department was established. In 1928 the committee of council was reconstituted with an entirely ministerial membership; otherwise, the organisation survived with only small changes until

3591-404: Was held jointly with the presidency of the Board of Trade, the latter position remained largely vacant; this led to a diminished status of the board and it became an adjunct to the new department and ministry concerns. Following the loss of the American War of Independence , both the board and the short-lived secretaryship were dismissed by the king on 2 May 1782 and the board was abolished later by

3654-414: Was instrumental in settling the serious threat of a national railway strike in 1907. While almost all the rail companies refused to recognise the unions, he persuaded them to recognise elected representatives of the workers who sat with the company representatives on conciliation boards—one for each company. If those boards failed to agree then an arbitrator would be called upon. H. H. Asquith succeeded

3717-447: Was reconstituted in October 2017, after the UK had voted to leave the European Union in June 2016. In its most recent iteration in 2017, only privy counsellors can be actual members of the board, while others are appointed as advisers. There is only one standing member in the Board, who is its President. The Board is held accountable to Parliament through ministers attached to the Board, who are not necessarily members. Advisers to

3780-477: Was responsible for atomic energy research, in an organisation known as the Directorate of Tube Alloys . In the 1950s the department embarked on research in the human sciences in relation to the needs of industry, undertaken from 1953 to 1957 in collaboration with the Medical Research Council ; in 1958 the department's research programme was transferred from its Headquarters Office to the new Warren Spring Laboratory . The executive head of each research organisation

3843-423: Was then acquired by the RSK Group . Notable WRc achievements include: 1960s 1970s 1980s Today WRc works with a range of customers in the public and private sectors around the world. Its clients include: The Water Research Association was established in 1953. It was the central research organisation for the British water supply industry, and one of the official Research Associations administered by

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3906-420: Was to be assisted by an Advisory Council, which in turn was assisted by certain advisory committees. As a first step, a scheme was devised for encouraging groups of firms to set up co-operative industrial research associations. For this purpose, a lump sum of £1 million, the 'Million Fund', was voted and an Imperial Trust was set up to administer it. Because of the close connection between education and research,

3969-491: Was virtually dormant in the last third of the 20th century. In 2017, it was revitalised as an advisory board headed by the International Trade Secretary who has nominally held the title of President of the Board of Trade , and who at present is the only privy counsellor of the board, the other members of the present board filling roles as advisors. The board was first established as a temporary committee of England's Privy Council to advise on colonial ( plantation ) questions in

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